Michael Lev
Make room on Arizona Football’s Mount Rushmore.Or is it Mount Passmore?Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan aren’t going anywhere. At least not anytime soon.The quarterback and the receiver. The dynamic duo. Best friends forever. Wildcats For Life.Our humble heroes.The words they spoke and the actions they took Saturday — announcing their return, leading their teammates onto the McKale Center court — was the stuff of legend. UA fans everywhere, the city of Tucson, heck, even us media hacks — we will never forget what they did and what it meant.
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Instead of following the money — instead of pursuing something purportedly bigger and better — they elected to stay in a place they can call home as long as they so desire. They picked Arizona’s red and blue over green — or purple or crimson or scarlet …
Arizona catcher Daniel Susac chose to remain a Wildcat after a coaching change in 2021 — similar to football stars Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan.
Rebecca Sasnett, Arizona Daily Star
Their gesture — their choice — reminded me of what went down the last time a UA coach hit the eject button.In late June 2021, after Jay Johnson left Arizona to become the baseball coach at LSU, star catcher Daniel Susac announced he’d be staying at Arizona. Mind you, this was several days before Chip Hale was named coach.I messaged Susac’s dad, joking that Daniel would never have to buy a drink in this town again. Nick Susac told me that Daniel doesn’t drink. Of course.But you get the point.By choosing Arizona over whatever other lucrative options they had — probably more than we’ll ever know — Fifita and McMillan cemented their legacies here. Wildcat Nation is indebted to them.In the case of Tucson real estate mogul Humberto Lopez — the man who puts the “don” in “donor” — that’s literally the case.Lopez is a capital-B Booster when it comes to UA athletics. His company, HSL Properties, hosted an event for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona on Friday. Fifita and McMillan were there for over an hour, signing autographs and accepting donations.
Arizona football standouts Tetairoa McMillan, right, and Noah Fifita, left, cemented their legacy as Wildcat legends when they announced their return to Tucson and appeared on the court at McKale Center on Saturday.
Mike Christy, Arizona Athletics
Colleague Justin Spears and I dropped by to try to talk to them. We spent most of our time interviewing Lopez in the HSL conference room as employees shuttled in and out of the building.At one point, Lopez led Fifita and McMillan down a hallway, presumably to his office. Maybe I’m being hyperbolic here, but that meeting might have changed the trajectory of UA football.What was the gist of the conversation?“Whatever you do, I’m gonna respect you,” Lopez told us. “You stay here, you got a friend for life. I’ll mentor you. I’ll help you. Financially, I’ll give you advice. (When) you get your agents, I’ll make sure that your agents are honest.“Whatever decision you want to make, it’s up to you.”Lopez added this: “When you start throwing that much money around … it’s hard to say no.”He wasn’t referring to himself as the money thrower. But it’s naïve to think NIL wasn’t part of this.
Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) hops out of the hands of Arizona State defensive back Ed Woods (10) racking up more yards after the catch in the fourth quarter of the Territorial Cup game in Tempe on Nov. 25, 2023.
Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star
However, knowing what we know about Fifita and McMillan, I’m confident in saying money wasn’t the driving force behind their decision. Those two are built different — beyond their athletic abilities. Remember: McMillan flipped from Oregon to Arizona in part because Jedd Fisch and his staff didn’t push too hard.Their talent is extraordinary, of course. We wouldn’t have been breathlessly awaiting their next move if it weren’t.McMillan is on track to become the greatest wide receiver in UA history — maybe the greatest overall player. He’s on pace to break Bobby Wade’s school record for receiving yards in just three seasons — and it appears Wade himself will guide T-Mac to that milestone. How ’bout that for a storyline?McMillan conceivably could become the highest …
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